Cover Up Operation
by JeffersonianGirl2004
Summary: Did he see her crying at her desk in the precinct? He could never quite understand what her tears meant but he had to try. SEASON 3. ONE-SHOT.


_AN: I don't own Castle. Okay so this is just a little one-shot that came to me after watching 03x13 "Knockdown". Just a little bit of Angsty fluff. Enjoy._

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><p>"Hey Beckett I brought you coffee!" Richard Castle's voice booms as he disembarks the elevator in the precinct. He hadn't seen Kate in a while and he had a feeling that she was lost in the case.<p>

_Nothing like a good old coffee to bring her back down to earth. _Castle says to himself as he walks closer to Beckett's desk. He had her favourite coffee, skinny latte vanilla, with two pumps, and no sugar, in a takeaway cup.

He glances towards the desk where Beckett always sat. She was sitting there again today just like any other day but something was different. She would usually sit up loud and proud but now she was slumped over. Her head was down in her hands covering her face and if Castle really listened carefully he could hear her crying. Soft whimpers were mixed in with full-fledged tears. Beckett had never been much of the crier, Castle had only really ever heard her cry on the rare occasion and even then it wasn't like this. She had never been crouched over a desk and using her hands to mask her hurt.

Kate Beckett had always appeared to be tough. On several occasions she had told Castle about the times that she rode her motorbike in tight leather outfits. He would have given a fair fortune in cash to see that. Kate was tattooed and she even had a navel ring. She wasn't conservative. Rick had always taken the detective as an ass-kicking gun-wielding woman bent on getting justice. All the times she had taken down criminals on her own and slapped pairs of handcuffs on over their wrists without an issue. She could kill with one bullet and she never flinched, she just accepted her gut instincts. He had heard of her kickboxing and seen her work out in the gym, she was capable of what he wasn't. She was opinionated, so much that she may even be able to be a politician if she didn't just keep her opinions to herself.

Katherine was a beautiful woman. Castle knew that she didn't fit the stereotypes of what made someone beautiful but to him those stereotypes were non-existent. So people may think the perfect blonde is the only way to fit such a word but Kate was different. She had long dark hair that took on about every shape and style possible. Castle remembers the time when it was short and dark. It was conservative, but ever since he came in and crashed the party it had changed. Okay so Kate wasn't flawless. She did have crowding in her front teeth and he remembered her telling him that she had spent her childhood in and out of the orthodontist. She also had a small mole on her left cheek, every time her hair wasn't hanging over it he tended to look at it.

Even the way Beckett had snatched up his keys and driven his Ferrari showed that she wasn't a buttoned down cop. She was a fearless and free spirited woman who wasn't afraid of what people thought.

Well at least that was what she appeared to be on the outside. On the inside was a totally different woman. A broken, lost girl who probably was lacking faith in humanity. He had seen a guitar in the corner of her apartment so he knew she must've played. He remembered the day when her apartment had blown up. He had rushed to her aid fearing death and he was met by a terrified woman curled up naked in a bathtub. He had never seen her so vulnerable.

The case about her mother was also something else entirely. He saw her in a whole different way when she was trying to solve her mother's case. Her mother was the reason why she became a cop, after considering a career in law her mother was murdered. Kate Beckett had to avenge her. Each time something to do with her mother came into their lives she was thrown into an emotional turmoil. She had shot a man in order to save Castle. Castle still remembered the time when she had thrust a man insulting her mother against the wall in the interrogation room. The wall had been shattered in Kate's angry rage. The cracks in the mirror were practically a visual representation of what her mother's death had done to her heart.

Castle creeps closer towards Beckett. He didn't want to take her by surprise but he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable either. The coffees were warm against the palms of Castle's hand as he carries them closer.

"Beckett." He speaks her name loudly. Kate looks up at him she tries to regain to normal posture but her shoulders still remain in a slump. He could see tears still rolling down her pale cheeks. They left an almost invisible trail along her skin.

"What Castle?" She was going for a harsh reply but it came out sounding strained.

The author sits down on the chair beside Beckett's desk. He smiles softly at her. "What's wrong?"

Beckett takes her latte from Castle's hand and sips it slowly. She feels the warmth of the drink against her lips and in her mouth. She craves more of the sweet drink and takes another sip. "It's nothing Castle."

Not for one second did he believe that. Rick remained unsure of whether she was tying to kid him or herself. "I don't believe you Beckett. No one cries for nothing. Even if we're crying during the Notebook we are still crying for something."

He was right. She never had cried for nothing before. "It's just…"

"Just what?"

"Just my mother. I was thinking about her case Castle and how we can never solve it. I wasn't crying though."

"Not crying, huh? How do you explain those tear stains on your cheeks?"

Beckett begins viciously wiping them away. "What tear stains?"

Rick wasn't getting anywhere with this. "Beckett this isn't a cover up operation. You aren't meant to pretend to be invincible when you aren't. You are a damn tough woman but we all have times when we get emotional."

Beckett nods "I know that Castle but I just don't want to talk about it."

"I understand you but remember if you ever feel the need to talk I'll be here."

Kate Beckett nods slowly and looks Castle in the eyes. "I'll remember."

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><p><em>AN: Okay so there you have it. Good? Did you enjoy it? I sure hope you did, I liked writing it very much.<em>

_Please leave a review/drop a line and let me know what you think. _


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